Patrol

Video: WA Fire Department to Issue Point Blank Armor

East Pierce (WA) Fire and Rescue Chief Bud Backer says the Las Vegas mass shooting reinforces the safety precautions he started making months ago. He received approval to purchase 32 sets of ballistic vests and helmets. It is a $75,000 expense, and the vests will have to be replaced every five years. The goal is to be able to reach patients quickly and keep firefighters safe during dangerous calls.

“I wish we never had to think about it,” Backer told KING. “That’s where the world is right now.”

Backer explained, “If we are going to send our people into an environment to treat injured people and the scene is not entirely secure yet, that kind of scenario is referred to as a warm zone. If we are going to operate in the warm zone, state law requires that we provide ballistic protection for our firefighters.”

Scanner audio captured an officer’s account of what happened at the scene, CWBChicago reports: “Ten people surrounded me, indicating that they had firearms. And one person pulled him away from me, holding his waist, indicating that he would use a firearm against me.”

There were so many police officers, sheriff’s deputies and Highway Patrol troopers that the court appearance had to be moved out of Justice Court to Judge John Larson’s Courtroom Number Three on the third floor of the Missoula County Courthouse.

The vehicle pursuit ended in the town of Kittitas where Deputy Thompson was backed up by Officer Benito Chavez. The suspect exited the vehicle and exchanged shots with the two law enforcement officers.

Sarah Wilson and her boyfriend were arrested during a stop in Chesapeake after officers allegedly found drugs in the 1996 Lexus the couple were driving. Police said they handcuffed Wilson and, while attempting to apprehend her boyfriend, 27-year-old Holden Medlin, he became combative and ran away from the scene.